Teacher Treks: Finding Math Mistakes and Solving Problems
Eva Mazier loves being a part of the team at Oyster-Adams Bilingual School since it allows her to share ideas to help other educators improve upon best practices and help students achieve success. Born and raised in the port city of La Ceiba, Honduras, and bilingual in English and Spanish, she thrives at teaching all things math from pre-algebra to pre-calculus. While she has studied industrial engineering, she decided to become a teacher for another reason: the vacation days. This is her story.
HOUSTON, TX/WASHINGTON, DC — Let’s talk and write about the math, encourages Oyster-Adams Bilingual School math teacher Eva Mazier.
“Let’s not give them the answer, but guide them so they can discover the answer, and check that it works,” says Mazier, a native of La Ceiba, Honduras who has taught pre-algebra, algebra, geometry, trigonometry and pre-calculus and is an Industrial Engineer with a master’s in education from Framingham University.
Last year, those countless hours teaching math were put to the test at the first ever District of Columbia Public School (DCPS) Math Bowl, as a team of 6–8 grade students coached by Mazier took first place honors at the competition. The annual one-day event consist of quizzes about multiplication, division, and fractions for elementary level students and pre-algebra and algebra for middle level students.
“We work with error analysis. Students learn how to find mistakes, explain why that person could have made the mistake, and then teach how to solve the problem correctly,” says Mazier, now in her 5th year at Oyster-Adams.
The biggest challenge has been getting students accustomed to daily math discourse, which is hard at the beginning and requires consistent modelling, devotion and time, says Mazier. Part of the challenge revolves around “getting used to teaching and promoting discourse,” she explains.
Back in San Pedro Sula, Honduras she taught students to solve and explain their work, but not to the degree expected in the U.S.
“I remember being mad, because there were days when my class seemed like a writing class,” says Mazier, who continuously modifies her teaching methods. “It was hard, it took about a year and half to become fully comfortable with it. But, I must say, it was definitely worth it.”
Oyster-Adams, located in Ward 3 in Washington, DC, offers a PK-8 program where students receive 50% of the academic content in English and the other 50% in Spanish, according to DCPS’ website.
In class, Mazier says her students teach each other, but also compete with each other, as they are constantly encouraged to find more than one way to solve problems. More importantly, she encourages them to share their methodologies with classmates.
MATH DISCOURSE
Mazier was exposed to English as a toddler in “la novia de Honduras” by her father and grandfather, the latter an islander and merchant marine. Years later, she volunteered as a tutor to help players from her mom’s baseball team “save their grades.” It wasn’t until her university years that she ventured into education when presented with an opportunity to teach 12th grade humanities during the absence of a teacher out on medical leave.
Teaching in Honduras is different than in the U.S. where often the challenges of school districts and regular testing come head-to-head with other challenges related to cultural and language issues.
The demographics of Oyster-Adams, are weighted towards two groups. Of the 674 students enrolled during the 2016–2017 school year, 58% identified as Hispanic/Latino followed by White (30%), Black (5%), multiple race (4%) and Asian (2%). Of these students, 46% were classified as in-boundary followed by economically disadvantaged (23%), ELL or English Language Learners (15%), and having special needs (10%), according to DCPS’ website.
“Our biggest challenge is special education services in Spanish in Spanish classes,” says Mazier, referring to the biggest overall challenge that confronts Oyster-Adams. In the past, Mazier has also taught high school social studies, middle school English and third grade, while in Honduras. But, at Oyster-Adams, she has only been an Algebra teacher.
In terms of math, Mazier receives constant guidance from her assistant principals: one of which collaborates with math discourse and the other with pedagogical best practices. Mazier also shares ideas with other math teachers, or the “math divas” as she calls them about teaching concepts to assure every student learns.
“We constantly track students strengths and weakness to assure they’re ready for success at the high school level,” says Mazier, also a member of the Local School Advisory Team (LSAT), an elected committee of teachers and parents who advise school directors and administrators on school-wide academic and governance issues, as well as the Academic Leadership Team.
While teaching math discourse is time consuming, there appears a joyous reward for all the hard work.
“When I hear my students analyze quadratic functions and use the rich mathematical vocabulary in Spanish, it gives me goose bumps. Their math discourse is rich. My students are mini teachers and can explain their mathematical reasoning in English and Spanish. It’s just breathtaking,” she concludes.
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The BTE Teacher Treks series is a collection of short stories from educators native to countries ranging from Colombia and Honduras to El Salvador and Costa Rica, and teaching subjects spanning mathematics to social studies. The series profiles their challenges and triumphs teaching and living in a new country and sometimes in a new language. (Writing, Editing, Proofreading, P. Don Pitts Twitter: @PietroDPitts) Instagram: pdonatello Linkedin: P. Don Pitts)
